Stir Crazy

Chad Thomas Carsten: Describe Your early life Growing up in Detroit and how it influenced you as an producer today
Stir Crazy: Michigan as a whole is different than most any place I have ever been. I am thankful to have grown up in Detroit and surrounding areas because I have experienced so much and learned a lot even at a incredibly young age. The grimey and craziness of the city effects everyone and in return can help spill out some crazy and different styles of music.
Chad Thomas Carsten: What made you decide to produce
Stir Crazy: I have always wanted to be involved with music in one way or another as far back as I can remember. I am a skillful writer but knew that I did not want to be in the spotlight as a rapper. I gravitated towards music production and staying away from being on stage.
Chad Thomas Carsten: The origin of the name Stir Crazy/Why did you choose it as your name?
Stir Crazy: The name came from studio session when very young. Someone mentioned I would go Stir Crazy if I continued to just watch them work. I was very young and mesmerized by everything going on, so I must have looked zombie-like. I didn’t even know exactly what Stir Crazy meant at the time, but after that day I wrote it down and it became me.
Chad Thomas Carsten: What did you use to produce your very first beat?
Stir Crazy: If you want to go way back to the days I was recording small samples and trying to get them to loop perfectly on cassette we can haha, but my “real” first beat was on a Casio keyboard and a old drum machine (can’t think of which one of the top of my head).
Chad Thomas Carsten: Describe your average recording process in the studio
Stir Crazy: I can not really describe it. I just have these ideas in my head that I have to unleash and get out or if doing custom specificity for someone I take the idea and make it into my own and give it my signature touch.
I normally start with a melody or drums if doing a composition and if doing a sampled based beat will dig around the crates and play records until I find something I want to flip. Every beat starts off different in specific ways and I do not really do much planning, it just happens. I wish I could give details on to my work in order to help others but when it comes to my work flow it changes so much and can differ per beat or project.
Chad Thomas Carsten: How has your production evolved since you started?
Stir Crazy: I was terrible. I really had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t know what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it. I just did what I enjoyed and had fun with it. When you have fun good things happen and in my case everything worked out amazingly.
Chad Thomas Carsten: First artist to spit on a beat you produced?
Stir Crazy: That is a hard one. I will not count tracks that were recorded on a karaoke machine or bootleg type recordings so either Autopzy, Tre Lb,or Kamal were the first to really lay work down on my production on a real more professional level. I have tons of cassette tapes though from middle school and those days of recording insanely bad music.
Chad Thomas Carsten: Biggest challenges you have faced since producing?
Stir Crazy: Me. I am very hard on myself and have a problem with not letting out music I produce or beats I have stashed away that many feel are good just because I do not feel they are up to par. I am getting better at showcasing my work and making sure lots get heard though these days because no one is perfect and you have to share work in order to learn and get constructive criticism. I do many different styles of music and no matter what I show at least someone will enjoy or purchase.
Chad Thomas Carsten: What is your personal favorite/most exciting project’s you have worked on?
Stir Crazy: Death Before Dishonor with TONE-Z and Lokey is one of my all time favorite projects. Anything I did with Chop Shop/SPP was also stuff I very much enjoy!
Chad Thomas Carsten: What was your first initial reaction when artists from Psychopathic Records reached out to you for production?
Stir Crazy: I didn’t care who I was working with, I only cared about having a good time while working. If you do not enjoy your work nothing good will come. Of course I knew it was and it will always be a great opportunity so I can say I was excited. I appreciated it when they contacted me and it has helped me a lot over the years.
Chad Thomas Carsten: Buying Pressed Copies VS Downloading Music, What do you prefer?
Stir Crazy: I love cd artwork and high quality sound recordings, so I have to go with pressed albums. I do not mind downloads if they come with high quality Mp3s, .Wavs or .Flacs along with nice artwork to go along with it. It is a digital age and I feel that music has been getting so sloppy that fans deserve to test albums and or at least get better previews before spending their money… so they should be able to download or stream first.
Chad Thomas Carsten: Craziest concert experience?!
Stir Crazy: The Gathering of the Juggalos a few years ago. I always declined going on stage for the Faygo throwing/Armageddon but Shaggy 2 Dope talked myself and his brother into doing it and I had a blast. It was something you can not put into words. Many of the first Gatherings were amazing but I passed on going to some of the recent ones because they have just not been the same. I will make it out to more though in the future in order to catch up with people and have a good time!
Chad  Thomas Carsten: What are your favorite and least favorite venues in Michigan?
Stir Crazy: I do not want to call out any venues, so instead of saying anything negative I will say that the new  “Macomb Music Theater” that is opening will be amazing and will most likely be my favorite.
Chad Thomas Carsten: True thoughts on Social Networking, is it a required tool to use?
Stir Crazy: In this day and age.. absolutely! I will be honest here, at first I didn’t give it a chance. I was terrible at using it to promote and even worse than I am now at keeping in contact and making things happen,. Slowly I am getting better at using technology to my advantage. You have to keep people informed and it is much easier than flyers, fan clubs, hotlines and the like. It also makes it easy to contact people and get in touch with others that you may not have been able to reach with much ease if not through the interwebz. There are bad sides to the social networking sites, but that is a whole different story.
Chad Thomas Carsten: When can fans expect another Dood Computer release?
Stir Crazy: Honestly I have been out of contact with him for a bit. We had a few minor disagreements and were very busy working on other projects that in return made it hard to fix everything to move forward. He still releases and released a few albums but in my opinion nothing will top the work we did together. Not just because it was good music but because we meshed well and came with cool ideas. When great minds get placed in the same area only good things can come and I will never have another projects that was as motivating and special as the stuff he and I did when it came to music.
Chad Thomas Carsten: New up and coming artists that you acknowledge/respect
Stir Crazy: Tre Lb of the Chop Shop is not that new but still very unknown to many others. Everyone should be checking his work out. If not for that man I would be nowhere in the music game. He deserves more credit than he gets and I hope people take a chance and peep his works!
The homie Killator of Corpse Circus ( has been at it for a long time too), is also schooling the game right now. This dude has his stuff together and will continue to excel. I see many good things in the future for him!
Chad Thomas Carsten: The Future of Stir Crazy?
Stir Crazy: Your guess is as good as mine! Stay updated at www.StirCrazyMusic.com and we shall see what holds in the future!
Interviewer: Chad Thomas Carsten
Interview Date:03/12/13

Websites:

• StirCrazyMusic.com